World's 1st Sesame Street theme park ride at USS.

Date: 22 February 2013

World's 1st Sesame Street theme park ride at USS.

SINGAPORE - Sesame Street fans will finally get to enjoy the world's first Sesame Street indoor theme park ride when it officially opens on March 1. The indoor ride within the park's New York zone was initially slated to launch in the 2nd half of 2012, but it was delayed.

With the latest addition of the ride based on the world's oldest children's TV programme, this brings the total number of rides at the local theme park to 23.

While this is not the first time Universal Studios is featuring the Sesame Street franchise at its parks, it is the first time it is introducing a themed ride. Universal Studios Osaka has a 4D Sesame Street show. The new attraction, called the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase, will feature 12 characters in a fully immersive setting. It has a science-fiction plot and enlists the help of guests to defeat villains.

Director of Park Operations, Brian Machamer, revealed that the site that the new ride sits on was originally planned for an ET-themed ride. But that plan was scrapped. Mr Machamer said: "A decision was made three years ago not to do the ET ride, and to do something more current and more for kids and families to be able to ride together.

"After the park opened, we decided that we needed something more family-oriented so we changed it from ET to Sesame Street. The Sesame Street characters were so successful in Japan, we knew the characters would be well received in Singapore," he added.

RWS also revealed at a press conference on Monday that three brand new characters were created exclusively for this ride. They are: “Macaroni the Merciless” and his partners–in-crime, “Zester” and “Shredder”. The gluttonous super villains have a ploy to steal all spaghetti and noodles on Earth.

When guests hop onto Elmo's rocket, they will get to help Super Grover and Super Elmo - who have both been given superhero status - to stop Macaroni the Merciless and return all stolen spaghetti and noodles to the children on Earth.

Celebrating the launch of the ride, the park will host a special Sesame Street Carnival from March 1 to 3. New York Street will be transformed into an extension of Sesame Street, bringing park guests a weekend of fun and excitement.

Completing the Sesame Street experience at USS, an all-new Sesame Street Character Breakfast at Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor has also been launched. Those who dine at the breakfast buffet will get priority to board the ride before the park opens.

The unique Sesame Street Character Breakfast menu is available on weekends and selected holidays from 9am. Tickets are priced at $44 each for adults and $32 each for children, on top of park entry fees.

By maryanns@sph.com.sg  & hteoh@sph.com.sg

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